BY STEPHEN ELBAZ, nyarm
As I reported in last month's issue, all residential tenants are required to send back their annual window guard notices, as required by the New York City Department of Health (DOH), on or before February 14, 1999.
Managers should prepare a list of tenant who did not return the notices. I advise giving this list, along with some blank notices, to superintendents or other building employees and have them knock at the tenant's door and have it filled out on the spot.
This may seem like a lot of work, but it is considerably easier than the DOH alternatives, and most importantly, it could save a child's life.
This is also a great time to check on the tenant's smoke detector, to make sure it is in proper working order. Furnish your employees with several spare detectors and batteries, again for on the spot repairs. A good tip for your staff is to supply them with a roll of heavy, double sided tape. They can use a piece of tape to hold the detector to the ceiling, freeing up both hands to insert the screws. This is a real time saver.
Managers should have all 1998 year end duties completed at this time. This includes archiving all 1998 files and destroying all old files from whatever number of years your firm stores them.
Fuel oil prices continue to drop. Managers should consult Real Estate Weekly, which publishes current prices every week. Managers have been paying in the mid to high forties for #2 oil with tanks as small as 2500 gallons. The savings have been as much as _ from last season. Low consumption and record supplies continue to drive down fuel prices so why is gasoline still over $1.00 a gallon?
Stephen Elbaz, nyarm is the Secretary
of NYARM and is President of Esquire Management Corporation, a full service
management company in new York and New Jersey. Readers are encouraged to contact
Stephen at 212-594-6500 or fax 212-594-8484 with real estate management questions,
concerns and helpful hints. Questions will be thoroughly researched and answered
in this column.